EST. 2026 · A LAWN GAME

HACKYHOLE

The lawn game born of necessity.

Cornhole boards. No bags. One hacky sack. Four friends. Eleven points.

THE SETUP

What you need.

2
Cornhole boards
or any boards with a hole
1
Hacky sack
the bouncier the better
4
Friends
two teams of two

HOW TO PLAY

The basics.

  1. 1

    Set up like cornhole.

    Two boards, hole facing in. Teams of two. Partners stand on opposite ends.

  2. 2

    Alternate, then switch.

    You toss. Your partner tosses back from the other end. Then the throwing team switches.

  3. 3

    Underhand only.

    Toss it underhand, granny-style. No overhand. No basketball shots. No flicks. And don't cross the front edge of your board.

SCORING

Five ways to score.

  • 1PT

    On the board

    Your toss lands on the board and stays. Pure cornhole.

  • 1PT

    Recovery, on board

    It bounces off the board, you save it with your foot/knee/chest, and you kick it back onto the board.

  • 2PTS

    In the hole (via board)

    Hits the board first, then rolls or drops into the hole.

  • 3PTS

    Recovery, in the hole

    Off the board, off your body, and you kick it directly into the hole. Highlight reel material.

  • 4PTS

    Swish

    Direct into the hole. No board contact. Nothing but air, then darkness.

THE GOLDEN RULE

No body contact with the hacky above the board. Wait for it to bounce off and clear the board's airspace before you touch it. Reaching over the board to tap it in is a foul — the point doesn't count.

NO HANDS

Hands can't be used for a redirect. Feet, knees, chest, shoulders, head — anything else. A hand touch on a recovery is a foul and the play is dead.

A recovery only counts if the hacky touches the board first. Pure keep-it-up doesn't score.

STRATEGY

The chest play.

Here's the move that separates rookies from regulars: aim for your partner.

A clean toss in the hole is worth 2. But a deliberate overthrow that your partner chests, knees, or foots into the hole is worth 3. Set them up. Trust the rebound. Practice the chest.

(Remember the golden rule — your partner has to make contact off to the side or behind the board, not above it.)

WINNING

First to eleven. With a catch.

Play to 11. You can go over.

If you cross 11 first — say you land at 12 — the other team gets a rebuttal. Both of their players take their turns. If they reach 12 or more, the game keeps going. If they don't, you win.

No skunk rule. No bust rule. Just keep tossing.

THE ORIGIN

How it happened.

We had the boards. We didn't have the bags. Somebody had a hacky sack. The rest wrote itself.

Turns out a hacky sack changes the whole physics of cornhole — it bounces, it rolls off the board, and you can kick it. That last part is what makes Hacky Hole, well, Hacky Hole.

Now you know. Go play.

THE TIP JAR

Play first. Tip later.

This whole thing is free. Always will be. But if you and your friends end up playing Hacky Hole on a back porch this summer and have an unreasonably good time —

The founders happily accept a few bucks of gratitude.

Venmo @coreydaugherty

Totally optional. Truly.